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United States Patent |
5,215,343
|
Fortune
|
June 1, 1993
|
Nudge bars
Abstract
A nudge bar of the kind comprising a pair of spaced vertical bars whose
front surfaces provide the most forward parts of the nudge bar, one for
either side of the vehicle radiator and a horizontally extending elongate
loops connected with the two vertical bars. At least the front part of
each vertical bar is formed as a moulding of resilient plastics or rubber
material. A particularly suitable material is a semi-rigid, self skinning,
foamed polyurethane. Preferably, a metal insert in the form of a strip
extends through each moulding to strengthen it and, where appropriate, to
facilitate fixing. In a preferred arrangement, each vertical bar comprises
a rear metal part and a front moulded part, the metal part providing
projecting front edges which mate with corresponding grooves in the
moulded part, and a plate is provided in the metal part, adjacent the
front edges, and on which the moulded part seats when fitted.
Inventors:
|
Fortune; William C. (Hitchin, GB)
|
Assignee:
|
Jib Engineering Ltd. (GB2)
|
Appl. No.:
|
829048 |
Filed:
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February 7, 1992 |
PCT Filed:
|
August 10, 1990
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PCT NO:
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PCT/GB90/01255
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371 Date:
|
February 7, 1992
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102(e) Date:
|
February 7, 1992
|
PCT PUB.NO.:
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WO91/01904 |
PCT PUB. Date:
|
February 21, 1991 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
Current U.S. Class: |
293/121; 293/115; 293/144; 293/146 |
Intern'l Class: |
B60R 019/02 |
Field of Search: |
293/121,120,102,38,142,143,144,155,112,146,148,115,123,130
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
3431005 | Mar., 1969 | Priefert | 293/144.
|
3610609 | Oct., 1971 | Sobel | 293/143.
|
3677594 | Jul., 1972 | Gussack et al. | 293/143.
|
4168855 | Sep., 1979 | Koch | 293/115.
|
4469360 | Sep., 1984 | Drury.
| |
4586739 | May., 1986 | Loren et al. | 293/120.
|
4671552 | Jun., 1987 | Anderson et al. | 293/144.
|
Foreign Patent Documents |
1574863 | Jul., 1969 | FR.
| |
1329851 | Sep., 1973 | GB.
| |
Primary Examiner: Stormer; Russell D.
Assistant Examiner: Pape; Joseph D.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Davis, Bujold & Streck
Claims
I claim:
1. A vehicle nudge bar, comprising a pair of spaced vertical bars whose
front surfaces provide the most forward parts of the nudge bar, one for
either side of the vehicle radiator and a horizontally extending elongate
loop connected with the two vertical bars, wherein at least a most forward
exterior part of each vertical bar is formed as a moulding of resilient
plastics, wherein each moulding is of a semi-rigid, self skinning, foamed
polyurethane, and wherein a metal insert in the form of a strip extends
through each moulding to strengthen said moulding forming each of said
vertical bars.
2. A nudge bar according to claim 1, wherein each vertical bar comprises a
rear metal part and said most forward exterior moulded part, wherein the
metal part provides projecting front edges which mate with corresponding
grooves in the moulded part, and wherein a plate is provided in the metal
part, adjacent the said front edges on which the moulded part seats when
fitted.
3. A nudge bar according to claim 2, wherein the metal part and the moulded
part are fixed together by screws fitting into one of tapped holes and
captive nuts provided in said metal insert strip.
4. A nudge bar according to claim 3, wherein one end of the moulded part is
provided with a peg which is adapted to fit into an opening defined in the
corresponding end of the metal part to facilitate fixing of said moulded
part to said metal part.
5. A nudge bar according to claim 1, wherein each vertical bar is made
wholly as a moulding of semi-rigid, self skinning, foamed polyurethane,
the strength of which is determined by the metal insert strip extending
through each moulding.
6. A nudge bar according to claim 5, wherein the horizontal loop is also
made wholly of resilient plastics or rubber material, the shape and
strength of which is determined by a metal insert strip extending through
the horizontal loop.
7. A vehicle nudge bar, comprising a pair of spaced vertical bars whose
front surfaces provide the most forward parts of the nudge bar, one for
either side of the vehicle radiator and a horizontally extending elongate
loop connected with the two vertical bars, wherein at least a most forward
part of each vertical bar is formed as a moulding of resilient plastics,
wherein each moulding is of a semi-rigid, self skinning, foamed
polyurethane, and wherein a metal insert in the form of a strip extends
through each moulding to strengthen said moulding forming each of said
vertical bars; and
wherein each vertical bar comprises a rear metal part and said most forward
exterior moulded part, wherein said metal part provides projecting front
edges which mate with corresponding grooves in the moulded part, and
wherein a plate is provided in the metal part, adjacent the projecting
front edges, and on which the moulded part seats when fitted to the metal
part.
Description
This invention relates to so-called nudge bars for protecting the fronts of
vehicles, more particularly cross-country vehicles such as "Land Rovers"
and "Range Rovers".
Such nudge bars have been know for many years (e.g. from UK Patent
Specification No. 1569052) and comprise a pair of spaced vertical bars
whose front surfaces provide the most forward parts of the nudge bar, one
on either side of the vehicle radiator and usually a horizontally
extending elongate loop which connects with the two vertical bars. The
loop usually wraps around from the front to the sides of the vehicle at
its ends. As discussed in said UK Patent Specification vehicles at that
date were commonly provided with bumper bars but these were not sufficient
in many instances to provide the required degree of protection.
Furthermore, since nudge bars known at that date were principally made of
metal, for example, sheet metal pressings and extrusions, they were
excessively heavy and caused a number of problems.
The object of the present invention is a relatively lightweight and
resilient nudge bar which nevertheless functions effectively.
According to the invention, in such a nudge bar, at least the front part of
each vertical bar is formed as a moulding of resilient plastics, each
moulding is of a semi-rigid, self skinning, foamed polyurethane, and a
metal insert in the form of a strip extends through each moulding to
strengthen it and to facilitate fixing for example by being tapped to
receive fixing bolts or screws.
The use of resilient plastics in a nudge bar in addition to improving the
performance of the nudge bar also enables safer and more interesting
shapes of nudge bar to be made. For example the front surfaces of the
vertical bars can be curved in cross-section to eliminate sharp edges.
Furthermore, the use of foamed polyurethane material provides the strength
and resilience needed for absorbing significant impacts, whilst the
self-skinning nature of the material provides a durable surface finish
resistant to tearing.
As an alternative to making just the front portion of each vertical bar as
a moulding of semi-rigid, selfskinning, foamed polyurethane, the whole of
each vertical bar may be so formed, the strength of which is determined by
the metal insert strip.
Examples of nudge bar in accordance with the invention will now be
described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings,
in which:
FIG. 1 shows a front view of a first construction of nudge bar,
FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of one arrangement of a vertical bar of the
first construction,
FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken along section line 2A--2A,
FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the assembled front and rear parts,
FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of another arrangement of a vertical bar of
the first construction.
FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a second construction of nudge bar,
FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view taken along section line 4A--4A,
FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along section line 4B--4B,
FIG. 5 shows a third construction of nudge bar.
FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view taken along section line 5A--5A, and
FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along section line 5B--5B.
Referring to FIG. 1, the nudge bar comprises two vertical elongate bars 1
and a horizontally extending elongate loop 2. The loop 2 is formed from
two outer tubular sections 3 and 4 which are welded to respective ones of
the bar 1 and a central section 5 having an upper tubular bar 6 welded at
its ends to the bars 1 and a lower pressed metal member 7 which is shaped
to fit over the vehicle bumper and is welded at its ends to the bars 1. A
strengthening member 8 of tubular form interconnects the two end sections
3 and 4.
Referring to FIG. 2, in one arrangement, the vertical bars 1 are each
formed in two parts, a rear part 11 which is of shaped trough-like form,
fabricated from sheet metal, and a front part 12 which is formed as a
moulding of semi-rigid, self skinning, foamed polyurethane, through which
a metal insert strip 13 extends. The longitudinal side walls of the rear
part 11 are connected together near to their edges 14 by an elongate
seating plate 11a, said edges projecting forwardly from the plate 11a as
shown. The rear face of the moulding 12 has elongate grooves 15, which
when the parts 11 and 12 are fitted together receive the edges 14 and
enable the inner face of the moulding to seat against the plate 11a. The
two parts can be secured together in any convenient manner. For example
the insert 13 can be provided with tapped holes, or plain holes and
associated captive nuts (not shown) for receiving fixing screws 16 passing
from the rear through access holes 17 if needed in the rear wall of the
rear trough part 11 and retaining holes 18 in the plate 11a.
Referring to FIG. 3, the second arrangement is similar to the first
arrangement described above, but includes a peg 19 projecting downwardly
from the upper end of the moulded front part 12 which is dimensioned to
fit closely within the upper opening 20 defined between the trough part 11
and its plate 11a, the two parts being thereafter connected together at
their lower ends by screws 16 and captive nuts in the strip 13. It will be
noted in this arrangement that access holes are not required in the rear
wall of the part 11 since a rounded cut out 21 is provided to enable the
vertical bar to fit closely around the bumper.
The nudge bar can be fixed to the vehicle through fixing brackets (not
shown) which can be secured by bolts to the lower ends of the vertical
bars 1.
Referring to FIG. 4, this shows a second construction of nudge bar in which
the vertical bars 1 are provided by vertical loops 22 moulded from the
aforesaid polyurethane material 21 around a metal insert strengthening
strip 25. The loops 22 are provided with integral bosses 23 and 24 for
receiving the parts 3 to 5 forming the horizontal loop.
Referring to FIG. 5 this shows a construction which is formed wholly from
components of the aforesaid polyurethane material 21a moulded around strip
metal strengthening strips 25a.
With regard to the constructions according to FIGS. 4 and 5, it will be
appreciated that the shape and strength of the vertical bars (FIG. 4) and
the vertical and horizontal bars (FIG. 5) is determined by the metal
insert strip.
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